Single mum ‘never realised she was poor’ until she had to spend three months’ wages in a WEEK… and she says it made her feel ‘ashamed’

Claire Lee was astounded when she was handed almost £3,000 by Channel 5's Rich House Poor House - but despite spending most of it on gifts and activities for her four kids, she admits she felt 'ashamed' by the vast sum

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By Emma Gritt

7th November 2017, 10:52 am

Updated: 8th November 2017, 4:37 pm

A SINGLE mum of four felt 'ashamed' when she was handed a weekly budget that was the equivalent of THREE months' wages.

Full-time school finance clerk Claire Lee, 43, usually has £170 a week left after bills and rent, but was handed over £2,900 when she swapped lives with wealthy doctors Mahrous and Rana Alsoud.

Claire, pictured with her four children, was stunned when she learned how much she'd have to spend on shopping for the week

Speaking to The Sun Online, Claire revealed that she had never thought of herself as "poor" until she travelled ten miles to the other side of Wolverhampton to spend a week living in their five-bed, four-bath house.

She said: "I couldn't believe that anyone had that much disposable income in a week, that truly blew my mind.

"That's almost three months' wages for me, so for that much to be spare in a week - I had no words.

"It left me speechless."

However, Claire says that she struggled to spend the huge weekly budget, although she relished the opportunity to indulge her children Jordan, 23, Nathan 17, Rose, 10 and Kiye, 9, with shopping trips, laptops and horse riding lessons.

Mum-of-four Claire never even realised she was poor until she swapped lives with the wealthy doctors

Rana, 49, and Mahrous, 54, moved to the UK from Syria in 2000 and have spent the last 17 years working hard to give their children a comfortable lifestyle and the best start in life.

Now working as a paediatrician and cardiologist, the couple have a weekly budget of almost £3000-a-week, which pays for groceries, riding, piano and swimming lessons for Yasmin, 19, Angela, 16, Zain, 15, and Farah, 12 - and plenty of shopping.

The first night Claire and her family spent living the Alsoud's lifestyle, they spent £50 on a Chinese takeaway, and cameras also saw her fill three trolleys with £285-worth of groceries at a local farm shop - which is still less than Rana's usual £300 weekly bill.

But it was watching her two youngest children have a piano lesson that really made devoted mum Claire feel like her family wasn't living life to the fullest.

One of the most emotional moments came after Claire's children were given piano tuition on the show

He later spoke to his daughters about what he had seen, which left them surprised.

The girls also became upset later in the swap when they realised that the Lees have to really stretch a small budget, while they take their comfortable lifestyle for granted.

It was also a culture shock for them to go from en-suite bathrooms to one family bathroom for all six of them, and one observed that the Lees' kitchen was the same size as their kitchen "island" back home.

Upon arriving at the Lees' home, they noticed that mum Claire sleeps on a single bed in the living room so her eldest son can have his own room after graduating from university, a selfless act that she admits makes Jordan uncomfortable.

Claire said: "Why should my kids go without just because I can't provide what they want?"

The Lees have now returned to their lives, but Claire is delighted that they took part in the Channel 5 show.

She said: "It's made me reflect on what it is possible for my children to achieve.

"It's made me reflect that they don't have as many other opportunities as other children may have and it might be harder for them to progress in life than other kids. Their CVs won't look as good.

"I'd like to think that my children have a good idea of the value of money and that although they get everything they need they don't get everything they want."

Similarly the Alsouds were pleased their children had seen that not everyone lives their luxurious lifestyle.